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House Judiciary Committee subpoenas anti-Trump FBI lawyer Lisa Page

Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2018 by Willis Stokes

J. Scott Applewhite AP

Republicans on Capitol Hill say they're considering holding former Federal Bureau of Investigation lawyer Lisa Page in contempt after she did not appear for an interview Wednesday under subpoena, but her lawyer maintains she's more than willing to cooperate and House leaders have resorted to "bullying" tactics.

During 2016, Page and Strzok were having an affair while they were both involved in the politically charged investigation of Clinton, Trump's Democratic election rival, for misuse of classified materials on her private email server.

Page's attorney said late Tuesday that she would not appear for a private interview Wednesday with the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees, despite a subpoena.

Page also briefly served on Mueller's investigative team until the revelations of her texts with Strzok.

There was, however, one crucial document Page lacked before her planned appearance-the testimony of Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Peter Strzok.

Infamous former Federal Bureau of Investigation official Lisa Page said through her lawyer Tuesday that she would not be testifying before Congress on Wednesday as they had requested.

"She was a part of the mess that we uncovered over at DOJ", said Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican.

Attorney Amy Jeffress told Fox News that Page would not appear on Capitol Hill on Wednesday because they did not have enough time to prepare.

"As a result, Lisa is not going to appear for an interview at this time", Jeffress in a statement.

Ryan, asked about Page's decision not to testify Wednesday, said, "I am very disturbed by this".

"All she is asking is to be treated as other witnesses have under the Committees" own rules, ' Jeffress said.

The Judiciary and Oversight panels have already spent much of the summer holding hearings and interviews critical of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department.

Members of the committee, especially Republicans and Trump defenders, had hoped to have Page's testimony before Strzok appears publicly on Thursday.

The president has repeatedly painted Mueller's investigation as a tainted witch-hunt led by Democrats. Following that report and the firing of Comey by Trump, the Department of Justice Inspector General launched an investigation. Page resigned from the FBI in May but Strzok remains working for the bureau in a new capacity.

In a second tweet, Trump wrote: "How can the Rigged Witch Hunt proceed when it was started, influenced and worked on, for an extended period of time, by former FBI Agent/Lover Peter Strzok?".

The committees have focused much of their ire on Strzok, who was interviewed privately by lawmakers on the two committees for 11 hours June 27.

The letter lays out a timeline, stating that, if Page does not appear, the committee "intends to initiate contempt proceedings" on Friday at 10:30 a.m. In the hearing, Republicans angrily accused the officials of withholding documents from them and demanded details about surveillance tactics in the Russian Federation investigation.